Freeing hotels from technological shackles to create more sustainable businesses

Technology can often feel like a barrier standing
between a business and its goals. In an ideal world, all the new generation
platforms and theories – big data,﻿﻿ social media, the internet of things – ultimately connects us
and enables us to make better sense of the world. In reality, vendors cannot
update software quickly enough to satisfy the business world.﻿﻿But a quiet revolution is solving this problem. Open Systems are changing the way all businesses – including hotels
– operate. In today’s world, innovation, flexibility, and speed are key to
competitive advantage; IT needs underpins commercial agility, and open systems
deliver it.

Open systems are different from static proprietary
systems because (as the name suggests) it is open to all. Can you imagine a
world where hotels could plug into IT like we plug
into utility services? That’s what open systems provide – an all-encompassing
IT platform that gives hoteliers the most current and cutting-edge software on
a daily basis. Open systems are higher quality and more secure than static
proprietary systems, as they can continually be upgraded and improved by
developers. They are ‘unlocked’ so a hotelier’s system can be tailored and
modified to fit specific needs, and operate in tandem with third party
software. They are also eminently scalable for any size of hotel, and hoteliers
can grow alongside their IT systems. Anyone who has owned an Android smartphone
will have felt the power and freedom of open technology.

From social synergy to the impact of mobile search, digital marketing in 2016 is a new landscape of creative engagement, seamless integration and the customer journey. With our eyes on every algorithm launch and search trend, Milestone has designed innovative strategies for online visibility, content engagement, conversion, ROI tracking and the user experience. Inspire your hotel marketing strategy by looking at these driving forces in digital marketing.

Importance of Mobile Presence for HotelsMobile search is the star trend of digital marketing. The universe of mobile users is massive – 3 in 5 people use mobile devices to search and 80% of local searches on mobile devices convert to purchase. With Google rolling out a new ranking factor for mobile-friendly sites, it is essential that your hotel website is optimized for mobile search and responsive on all mobile devices. The target is to enhance mobile traffic and ensure a robust and seamless experience with content that can be shared on social media.

Enhancing Your Hotel’s Local PresenceYour website has to tap into the possibilities of enhanced local search. The goal is to create optimized content and local profiles, manage quality citations and directory listings, and deliver a seamless mobile experience across devices. It is critical that you manage your local presence across search engines, IYPs, aggregators, business directories, local citations, and maps. Ensuring your hotel’s marketing strategy includes optimizing your content with headers, title tags, metadata, footers with location-based schemas, and image alt-tags will help strengthen the property’s local presence.

Hotel Social Media MarketingIn our connected online community, the synergy of social engagement empowers your digital marketing. Most of the world uses social media sites, including Google+, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn. Social media is a driver of brand awareness and customer relationships and retention. To be in the social conversation and derive traffic from social platforms, your web content must be interesting, build connections, and inspire conversion. Ensure your site is optimized for mobile and sharing across devices, and make sure to add OG tags and Twitter cards. Be a stand out with robust hotel social media outreach, engaging content and visual media.

Content Marketing – Engagement and the Customer JourneyContent marketing starts with understanding your audience and the customer journey. Content should engage, inspire and enhance the user experience. Empower your audience with engaging content, including local attractions and activities, visuals and trending topics. Your content should be optimized for local and conversational search and saturate diversified channels – from your website to blogs to Facebook. Look at KPI indicators – time spent on page, bounce and click-through rates and engagement patters. Once you determine top converting pages, enhance the content to encourage the path to purchase, and ensure mobile responsiveness.

TheUser ExperienceThe user experience is the human path to digital marketing. Audiences want to be engaged, be able to navigate your site, and tap into social influences. Conversion optimization starts with usability factors such as speed and performance, information architecture, legibility, colors and images. With robust architecture, clear design and navigation, and engaging content, your site will increase conversion. A smart way to see how the user experience relates to the conversion funnel is to implement A/B testing. Track which pages perform better based on simple design and content evolution, including floating buttons, drop-downs, marketing messages, and banners.

Attribute Hotel ROI Across All Touch PointsThe customer journey is evolving, so businesses need to alter their approach to measuring digital marketing ROI. With the dramatic spike in mobile search and social signals, the conversion funnel is not linear and the purchase journey can begin at any point along the decision path. It’s important for hotels and businesses to tap into this dynamic, target the audience journey, and personalize the content. With new innovations in digital tracking software, we can attribute ROI to every channel. By understanding the conversion path, attributing ROI, and integrating a dashboard to break down the data, we can see the value of each touch point.​Understanding the Hotel Customer JourneyFrom travel inspiration and research to booking to post-stay social, understanding the customer journey is paramount to your digital marketing strategy. In hospitality/travel, and just about any industry or business, customers use search, websites, social channels, and reviews to plan a trip or book a room. That’s why your hotel website has to be optimized for organic and paid search, connected to social channels, and designed for conversion. Being present on every layer of the customer journey gives your business the edge.